The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-06-16

Long and miserable az the night had
been. our LOT on this day was little better
Wet with no change Of clothing to put
on. and no place t. warm or dry our.
selves, except A. occasionally one
could edge his way up to the smoke
stack and sit down near it, for We
could not stand up with safety; hungry
vet we spurned the very taste Of food
when offered to VS.. recollect that We
had beans for dinner, and after the
ration had been delat out very audible
sound, or series Of sounds, floated over
the deck. My first impression wa.
that the boys were saving grace. but on
being little more attentive discovered
that what they were saying was
"wHo WANTS MY BEANs?"
This was the 1st OF November, my
10Th birthday. Our fleet suffered to
some extent during the storm. The
Governor. an ordinary river steamboat.
was lost: the U. s. Mail steamer At
lantic had both warehouses and one OF
her paddles torn away. but succeeded
in getting through without other serious
loss.
A few days after the storm We sighted
the hull of one Of our transports. She
was pitiful-looking object in comp;.ri.
son with most of the other vessels.
Her starbOard bow had been cut away,
artillery and other heavy freight thrown
overheard, and only the smokestack ap.
peared above the deck. Our old Van.
derbilt didn't seem any the worse for
the rough usage.
On the evening of the 9th Of Novem.
Der we came to anchor just outside the
bar in Port Royal entrance, off Hilton
Head. s. q. Several vessels of the
fleet were already then at anchor. but
not all: and much anxiety was felt for
tidings of those not yet arrived. We,
especially, were eager to learn what
had become of our consort. the Great
Republic. as we had neither seen nor
heard of her since cutting her loose on
the 31st; but to our joy, three or four
days after we arrived she hove in sight
off the entrance, under full sail. This
was the first and only full-rigged four
masted sailing vessel had ever seen.
and she presented beautiful sight
indeed
PORT ROYAL ENTRANCE.
is bay or harbor on the coast of South
Carolina between Charleston and Sa-
vannah. Ga.
On the south is the island Of Hilton
Head, on which the enemy had built 4
very formidable sand fort, mounting
"a guns. A little to the front of the
fort, and on lower level than the fort
itself, was a stockdale of palmetto
logs pierced with loop-holes for in.
fantry. Outside of this, and almost on
level with the sea at high tide. were
placed two old rusty swivel guns, bed.
ded in the sand. presumably to resis,
an attack from small boats. On the
opposite side of the entrance was an.
other island. st. Philips. upon which
was another sand fort-Fort Beaure.
gard-of about one-half the armamen,
Of Fort walker; and vessels passing NJ
this bay or entrance were within easy
range of the guns on either side.
Early on the morning of the 7th--a
lovely day-the line-of-battle ships be-
gan manGuvering to get into line. tn.
flagship Wabash taking the lead. tn,
transports remained at their anchor
age at safe distance from the shor,
batteries. yet within good view of al
that was transporting, affording us til,
opportunity of witnessing one Of til,
grandest naval engagements of the war
This day had another historic signiti
cance-it was payday. our first call t
sign the pay roll, and well remembe
that, although l hadn't had cent il
my pocket for more than two months
it was with great reluctance that
spared the time to 60 below for my
SIXTEEN DOLLARS AND A HALF.
When l came on deck the frigate
were heading up the entrance in singh
file, little to the right. nearest For
Beauregard. It was not long unit
they began to come within range of tn
fort. which | think fired first, and sool
our ships sent full broad-sides in repl,
as they passed on out of range. Afte
proceeding short distance the flagship
circled to the left, all the others follow
ing. and bore down upon Fort Walker
repeating the broadside fire; but tn
heavy guns of this battery told fearful.
on our sailors,
Our wooden vessels were shot through
and through, rigging and masts sho
away, and as we watched the fight from
where we lay, we felt as though the,
were doomed to destruction. Soon
however, would be seen ship emery
ing from the cloud of smoke, which nov
almost entirely obstructed our view
another and still another, until tn
whole nine had swung around still
afloat, and with Yankee persistenc
again passing in review Of Fort Beau
regard. Thus ragged the battle aroun,
and around in an elliptical course 70
fully three hours, when Fort Beauregar
HoIsTED THE WHITE FLAG.
The attention of the fleet was no,
directed wholly to Fort Walker, whic
offered a stubborn resistance until
o'clock in the afternoon, when this to
hauled down its colors, and the garri
son, like the Arabs, '.silently stol
away; but, unlike them, they didn'
..fold their tents" for the simpl
reason, if no other, that they were nc
worth folding, as this sketch further o.
will show. A small boat immediatel
put off and took formal possession Q
the works. During the hottest of tn
engagement little, low, flat gunboa
of ours managed to get close up to tn
shore near Fort Walker, where tn
guns could not be depressed to bear 0
her, and it was amusing to watch he
hosting shells into the enemy's camp
Immediately upon the cessation of tn
firing our transports weighed ancho
and went rs close to the shore of Hilto
Head as they could, when we transfer
red to small boats and pulled for tn
shore. These .'small boats" DIRE
nearly four feet Of water, and thel